The Hunter and the Hunted
by Cerenbus.Snape.Malfoy
Summary: With his father dead and his mother in a loony bin, Shawn Hunter is forced to go to an orphanage. Facing the threat of being forced to live on the streets, Shawn stresses himself to the point of a breakdown and suddenly wakes up in a hospital, unable to remember a thing. Will Cory be able to gently bring Shawn's memory back without damaging their friendship?
1. Chapter 1

∰**Chapter one**∰

Shawn Hunter sighed, closing his schoolbooks and rubbing his tired eyes. It was the first of September and he had been determined not hours ago to turn over a new leaf and start the new school year out right. He had studied, researched and done all his homework on time. By now it was midnight, and he felt his determination being forced away for need of sleep, yet he still continued.

The question was… why did he bother? Most of what he had just read had gone completely over his head, and honestly, studying simply didn't suit him. But on the same token, neither did living in a cardboard box on the streets. And that was exactly where he was headed if he failed any of his classes this year.

He couldn't afford to fail.

"Hunter! What are you still doing up?!"

Shawn flinched at the harsh voice, his books falling from his lap as he scrambled off his bed, fumbling with the lamp on his bedside, ignoring the groans and muttered complaints of his roommates at the noise. "S-sorry, I'm going to bed now!"

The scowl on Sister Mary's face only deepened. "Your fruitless attempts at cramming your puny brain with facts at this hour of night will get you nowhere fast, Hunter. I advise you to keep that in mind."

"Y-yes, Sister Mary." Shawn murmured, crawling back into bed.

Sister Mary nodded stiffly and closed the door, going back out of the room and taking the light with her. Only when her dull footclaps could no longer be heard did Shawn let out the breath he'd been holding.

Currently, Shawn was living in an orphanage, as mister Turner had no longer been able to afford to keep him fed. Greatly distressed, Shawn had run away, searching for his father only to find out from a bar patron two states away that Chet Hunter had jumped off a bridge two months prior. That had left Shawn in a very fragile emotional state and a very concerned mister Turner had to search for a week before he managed to find the boy wandering the streets of Frankfort, Kentucky.

After they got back home, Shawn had immediately begun searching for his mother, who he found out later had been in a mental facility for the last six months.

This left Shawn in a quandary. He had no father, his mother was in a loony bin and mister Turner could no longer take care of him. He'd been forced – quite literally – to go to the Saint Edmond's Home for Children, and had been there so far all summer. The setback was that he had, had _had _to improve his grades. The orphanage had threatened to 'loose him to the wild' as they'd put it, if he didn't. He wasn't sure if they'd actually fall back on their threats, or if it was even legally possible for them to do so, but he was worried nonetheless.

And so, Shawn Hunter had found himself studying nonstop all summer, preparing himself for the next school year – ninth grade.

Shawn was so wrapped up in trying to read in the dim light that he didn't hear the footsteps, and never knew what hit him.

* * *

"Shawn, you're awake. Hey buddy, how you feeling?"

Shawn woke to the sound of a voice he hadn't heard in months, or at least it felt like it. He blinked open his tired eyes and looked around blearily, his gaze falling to rest on the concerned face of none other than his curly-headed best friend. Cory had grown a _lot _since Shawn had last seen him, he realized.

Shawn managed a small grin, wondering why his insides were numb. "Hey Cor. You look old." He whispered.

Cory Mathews smiled back carefully at his friend.

"What are you doing here, buddy? You s'posed to be at school…" Shawn murmured tiredly, his eyes falling closed again.

"I came to see you. Topanga's here too. And Eric."

"Why're you lot missing school to come see some loser-" It only just then occurred to Shawn that he wasn't in his dorm-room at the orphanage. His eyes flashed open. "Cory, where are we?"

"A hospital…" Cory answered hesitantly.

Shawn sat up abruptly, making the room spin.

"Shawn, lay back down…" Cory tried to push Shawn back, but the boy resisted.

"No, Cory, why am I here? What happened?" He demanded.

"Just calm down-"

"No I won't calm down, don't tell me to calm down, why am I here?"

Cory didn't see any future in prolonging the inevitable. "You don't remember?" He murmured, staring at his best friend.

Shawn stared back. "Remember _what?"_

Cory shook his head slowly. "You've been gone for a year."

**AN: So this first chapter seemed kinda cheesy to me… IDK. Can you let me know if you want me to continue?**


	2. Chapter 2

∰**Chapter two**∰

"Gone, what do you mean, 'gone'?" Shawn whispered, staring up at Cory as he paced quietly in the small hospital room. Shawn moved to swipe at a stray bit of hair in his eyes, then froze when his arm didn't budge. He looked down and noticed his hands were cuffed to the sides of the bed."What…?"

"I just can't believe you don't remember…"

Shawn pulled against the restraints, knowing he couldn't break them, but he'd be damned if he didn't try. "What's this all about? Cory, you're scaring me."

_"__You're scaring __**me**__!" _Cory shouted, spinning to face his best friend. "All that time you were away, and you don't remember a thing. What's the last thing you remember?"

Shawn shook his head slowly, thinking back to what had happened the night before… or a year before if Cory wasn't playing some kind of stupid practical joke. "I was at the orphanage-"

_"__WHAT?! That's _the last thing you remember?!"

"Cory, stop shouting! And yes, it feels like it was just last night."

Cory ran a trembling hand through his thick, curly hair, and resumed pacing.

"This isn't good. If you can't remember, you'll stand trial without anything to go by, you can plead innocent, but you won't have anything to say!"

"Whoa, wait, back up; _trial?! _Are you going to tell me what supposedly happened or is Topanga and Eric going to come out of that closet and yell 'duped ya!'?"

"I'm not duping you, Shawn." Cory moved over to the bed and took his friend's hand.

"Whoa man…" Shawn tried to draw his hand back but Cory only held it tighter, getting his face up close to Shawn's, staring him in the eye.

"Shawn, if you can't remember what happened, you're going to jail. You'd be lucky if you didn't end up with the death sentence."

"What the hell for?" Shawn tugged against the restraints again, panic rising in his chest.

"Manslaughter and rape."

"MANSLAUGHTER!?"

"And rape."

"Bu- wa- I would never! Cory, you _know _I would never!"

"I don't know what to believe, Shawn! They found the man's blood all over your hands, you had the killing weapon in your possession! There's absolutely no evidence that is in your favor, and the fact that you don't remember what _really _happened concerns me!" He ran his hand through his hair again. "The only reason you aren't locked up now is because you had a bullet wound, presumably self-inflicted, and the only reason I'm allowed to see you is because you were in a temporary coma. They probably have the room surrounded with police officers by now because you're awake."

"Cory you don't understand, I don't have it _in me _to murder someone! You _know _that I would never, but you also know that I _could never. _It is physically and mentally, and-and emotionally, impossible, for me to do something like that."

Cory sighed heavily and sat down in the guest chair. He stared blindly ahead for a moment. "I know, Shawn." He murmured. "That's why I'm here. And since you can't remember what happened… I'm going to testify on your behalf about your integrity."

"What about the girl that I… supposedly… raped, wouldn't she testify that I didn't do anything to her?" Shawn pleaded.

Cory hesitated. "That's the thing, Shawn. She's… she's pregnant. And they ran tests… it's yours."

Shawn sat in silent shock for an entire minute, his foggy mind desperately trying to compute this new and alarming information.

"Your trial was agreed to be set a week after you woke up… a week from today is Friday. We have until then to get your memory back, Shawn."

"What do you think will happen if I don't get my memory back?" Shawn asked worriedly.

Cory sighed. "I don't know. Someone was murdered, Shawn, and all evidence points towards you. Things aren't looking too good."

**AN: Okay, so if you're wondering 'no, he can't get the death penalty because he's under 18' well, I'll have you know, that Boy Meets World aired from 1993 – 2000 - five years before the Supreme Court decided that it is unconstitutional to execute anyone for crimes committed when they were younger than 18. (Case of Roper v. Simmons, March, 2005). There, you learned something.**

**Thank you for the reviews! As always, please review again and let me know what you think. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

∰**Chapter three**∰

"No! Absolutely not!" Cory's words were nearly drowned out by a crack of thunder.

"Cor, this could be the only way I'm ever going to prove my innocence!" Shawn pleaded, lightning dancing in the air and making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"I'm not letting you run away, Shawn! That will make you look even more guilty!"

"I'm _not _guilty!" Shawn cried, ready to burst into tears. Now, Shawn Hunter didn't cry. If he was broken, he would keep taking blows until he shattered. If he was scared, he would build up a wall that was too high to climb. If he was alone, he wouldn't ask for company, but would wait for it in lonely silence. If he was hurting, he would hide it so no one else would feel his pain. If he was empty, he would search for wholeness in all the wrong places, hoping to stumble across the right path. He had a good heart, but his mind refuted that. He was stubborn. He didn't cry. But… if he did start crying, he was counting on the tears being washed away by the rain that was pouring down in sheets, soaking their clothes and making them stick to their bodies.

"I know Shawn, but you have to stand trial, we can get this worked out!"

"No! You said it yourself, Cor, they aren't going to believe anything I say! I have to get out and find the truth before this gets out of hand!"

"It already _is _out of hand, Shawn!"

Shawn shook his head, backing away. "I can't go back."

Cory stared at his best friend for a moment, eyes wide. "But Shawn… I can't let you do this…"

"Then come with me! Help me prove my innocence!" Shawn begged, grabbing the collars of Cory's shirt, eyes wide and pleading, showing his friend briefly that he was broken and on the verge of shattering, briefly that he was scared, briefly that he was alone, that he was hurting, and empty and he was stubborn and wanted to cry. But Cory didn't understand the look, because he had never seen it before. At least not on Shawn.

"That's what I'm trying to do, Shawn! By testifying about your integrity, and you're not helping when you pull stunts like this!" Cory shoved the desperate boy away from him, looking over his shoulder, hearing the sirens in the distance.

Shawn's eyes glassed over and he stared in frozen terror for a moment before dragging his gaze back to his best friend. "It's been a week… Cory… I'm no closer to remembering what happened than someone like you who wasn't even there. You said yourself things didn't look too good."

Cory swallowed hard, watching as his best friend backed slowly away as the sirens grew nearer, the rain crashing down in waves over their heads. "Shawn, I don't want to be dragged into this. This… this is a lot bigger than anything we've dealt with before." He whispered, not even sure his friend could hear him.

"Then go home before the police get here." Shawn called back to him, somewhere in the thick woods, not quite gone yet, and still… not quite there anymore.

Cory turned, ready to go back, but his heart stopped him. He couldn't do this. He couldn't leave his best friend here alone in something like this! Not with that look he had given him. It had been so unfamiliar… but it suited Shawn better than anything he had seen him like before. What was he doing? Shawn had had his back in so many things before, how could he abandon him now?

"Shawn, wait!" He called, turning and dashing blindly into the woods, wildly searching to no avail.

Shawn was already gone.

Shawn raced through the trees, ignoring the branches as they ripped and tore at his body. The muddy ground was becoming increasingly difficult to run through, as he kept slipping and just barely keeping his balance. He glanced desperately over his shoulder, hearing dogs barking and sirens wailing. This couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening!

Shawn tripped over a hidden root that had been unearthed by the torrential downpour, his ankle twisting at an unnatural angle, falling face-first into the mud, the giant puddle nearly completely covering his thin body. He lay there for a moment, dazed, pain radiating through his leg. The need for air was the only thing that made him push himself up and gasp in, whimpering in pain.

He gasped again, suddenly hearing the dogs. They were close. Too close for comfort. His eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, stumbling a few steps before his ankle gave out. He bit back a cry of pain, stars dancing behind his vision. He couldn't go out like this! He had to prove his innocence, and he couldn't do that from a prison cell.

Pushed by new determination, Shawn reached forward, digging his fingers into the mud and dragged himself forward, then reached the other hand out and dragged himself forward again, vaguely aware that the dogs were getting closer still, and he could hear shouting by now. That was never a good sign, since the fat old officers were usually a good distance behind the dogs, and if he could hear them…

He turned to see a flash of teeth and screamed, feeling pain sink into his arm as he raised it to protect his neck. He flailed wildly, kicking the dog back and began desperately crawling again, he managed to climb up into a tree by the time the dog had recovered from the vicious kick to the head.

The woods were dense enough that Shawn was able to – very carefully – go from tree-to-tree without going back to the ground. He nearly slipped and fell several times, his ankle completely useless with any weight on it, and his arm throbbing painfully from where the dog had bitten him, the branches sleek and wet with rain. He sobbed and clung to the trunk, lightning dancing around and thunder rattling his soul. And yet, he pushed on, determination still pumping through his veins and throbbing painfully in his wounds.

He stopped after he was satisfied that he was far enough away from the clearing, his arm wrapped around a limb and his good leg supporting his weight on a lower branch. By now, his muscles were screaming with fatigue, but he couldn't afford to go back down there. He looked around for a moment before gingerly climbing up a few branches, finding a good cleft where he could lay without fear of falling.

He lay in silence for a long time, the upper branches only blocking some of the rain that was still coming down in sheets. A pointy branch was poking painfully into his back, his ankle was swelling and twitching in pain and his arm was tingling painfully. He closed his eyes, whimpering and wallowing in self-pity. For once. He would allow himself just this once.

His troubled mind was too noisy and filled with voices to be able to get any sleep. He kept hearing Cory's voice, tormenting him further.

How could his best friend have abandoned him?

**AN: So poor Shawnie is all alone now and injured! How is he going to prove his innocence? Will he be able to? The judge will specify the extent of his crimes in the next chapter, so stay tuned!**

**Reviews are appreciated! Thanks my lovelies! :D**


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